Eggnog French Toast | Two Versions
Regular readers of this blog know that I can’t stand store-bought eggnog, but that I adore the homemade version, which tastes deliciously like melted nutmeg-and-vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm. . . I think that makes an excellent base for French toast, non?
That said, I would never waste homemade eggnog on french toast – I never have any leftover anyway! But I love the flavours of nutmeg and vanilla in general. So, for many Christmases, I have been making “eggnog” french toast by flavouring regular french toast mixture with generous gratings of fresh nutmeg and splashes of real vanilla. It tastes delicious, especially with the sauteed apples or pears that I usually make for a holiday topping. I have wanted very much to blog about this through the years, but I have always felt that it wouldn’t be fair to the eggnog lovers out there not to use actual eggnog in my Eggnog French Toast recipe.
Testing two versions of eggnog french toast
This year, THIS YEAR, I finally tried it out. I have made several batches of French toast this week, testing mixtures using store-bought eggnog vs my home-flavoured version. First of all, my kids are in heaven. Secondly, the store-bought eggnog French toast tastes pretty good. GASP! The things I don’t like about store-bought eggnog (overly sweet, slimy texture, chemical aftertaste) are seriously mitigated, and even beneficial, in a French toast recipe. The sweetness is really nice, and means you don’t need any syrup; the added thickness in the nog keeps the French toast with a firmer texture; and the chemical aftertaste just tastes pleasant, soaked up in all that bread. See, this is why I love testing recipes! I learn so much good stuff!
Nevertheless, I still personally prefer my home-flavoured version, and I’m still one million times more likely to have a jug of milk than a carton of eggnog in my fridge to make French toast. Therefore, I thought it would be a great idea to share both recipes and let my readers decide which they want to make. Have a bunch of leftover eggnog? Use it up in some amazing holiday-time french toast. Want some fancy, nutmeg-and-vanilla scented french toast at any time of the year? Try my home-flavoured version.
Happy holidays! May you eat many calories, hug many friends, and drink many toasts!
RECIPE ONE
“EGGNOG” FRENCH TOAST (Home-flavoured)
Makes 2 slices. Recipe is easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc.
ingredients
2 slices white or French bread (I like the thick-sliced French bread from Bond Bond’s)
1 large egg
4 Tb (1/4 cup) whole milk
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 Tb butter, clarified butter, or ghee
maple syrup and/or sauteed apples or pears
instructions
1. Crack the egg into a pie plate and whisk with a fork. Add the milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt and whisk until evenly blended.
2. Heat a cast-iron or non-stick skillet over low or medium-low heat. Add the butter or ghee and allow to melt. (Aside: ghee makes the BEST French toast).
3. MEANWHILE, place your slices of bread in the French toast mixture. With decent bread, you will need to let each side soak for a good 10 to 20 seconds (longer, if using a rustic bread). Cheaper bread will only need a quick dip, because the soft crumb soaks up the mixture quickly. IMMEDIATELY, place the soaked bread into the pre-heated skillet. You want to make sure that the skillet is low enough that the bread will take several minutes per side to cook through, without burning. Nothing worse than French toast that is brunt on the outside and raw in the middle :( Low and slow, that’s the french toast motto. Cook 2 to 4 minutes per side, until golden on the outside and cooked through and custardy in the middle.
4. Serve immediately, with butter, syrup and fruit.
RECIPE TWO
EGGNOG FRENCH TOAST (with store-bought)
Makes 2 slices. Recipe is easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc.
ingredients
2 slices white or French bread (I like the thick-sliced French bread from Bond Bond’s)
1 large egg
5 Tb eggnog
1 Tb butter, clarified butter, or ghee
butter and/or fruit, for serving
instructions
1. Crack the egg into a pie plate and whisk with a fork. Add the eggnog and whisk until evenly blended.
2. Heat a cast-iron or non-stick skillet over low heat. Add the butter or ghee and allow to melt. (Aside: ghee makes the BEST French toast).
3. MEANWHILE, place your slices of bread in the French toast mixture. With decent bread, you will need to let each side soak for a good 10 to 20 seconds (longer, if using a rustic bread). Cheaper bread will only need a quick dip, because the soft crumb soaks up the mixture quickly. But in any case, the bread will take longer than you think to soak up the french toast mix, because the eggnog is much thicker than milk. IMMEDIATELY, place the soaked bread into the pre-heated skillet. You want to make sure that the skillet is low enough that the bread will take several minutes per side to cook through, without burning. The sweetener in the eggnog makes this french toast recipe burn quite easily, so keep the heat low! Nothing worse than French toast that is burnt on the outside and raw in the middle :( Low and slow, that’s the french toast motto.
4. Cook 2 to 4 minutes per side, until golden on the outside and cooked through and custardy in the middle. Serve immediately, with butter and fruit. Use syrup, too, if you are a sugar hound.
thank you for these recipes, Heidi.
i think i will try them next weekend.
i made your eggnog for Christmas this year and it was heavenly, AND very ice-cream like. i think i might freeze it into ice cream next time. i thought about that for the leftovers, but instead left it for my friends to polish off.
i can’t drink the store-bought eggnog, the ingredient list ruins it for me, plus i find i am sensitive to whatever chemicals are in it.
loved your egg nog, happy 8th day of Christmas!
Chef Heidi, I have a guest coming for the New Year’s weekend and would like to make your french toast (store bought eggnog). Do you think we could use panettone as the bread base? Also, I bought a large Fuji apple to sauté, is that okay?
Hi Vee – I’m sorry I didn’t get this before now. I was switching servers over December and fell behind on all my office work.
Yes, Panettone is fine, and yes a fuji apple is fine. I hope it turned out!
Saw your show with your niece and you were making make ahead of time a recipe french toast with sauted apples in it, that you can make up the day before. I can’t seem to find the recipe on your website, is it possible for you to send it to me? Or send me a link to where it is..
Thank you so much…enjoy your Cooking on the Coast very much and on the road experiences at different places!!
Hi Yvonne, all my TV show recipes are found on the Country Grocer website under Cookin on the Coast Recipes. The french toast recipe is found here: https://www.countrygrocer.com/recipe/maple-apple-cinnamon-baked-french-toast/